Pangaea

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.”

In his 1858 book, La Création et sesmystèresdévoilés (The Creation and its Mysteries Unveiled), geologist Antonio Snider-Pellegrini theorized that all the Earth’s continents had once been part of a supercontinent and had been split apart during the Flood. He based this on his observation that continents on either side of the Atlantic Ocean seemed to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. He also noted that similar fossils appeared on either side of the Atlantic, indicating a common origin. Later, secular geologists, such as Alfred Wegener, accepted the supercontinent idea, calling it Pangaea (Greek for “Whole Earth”), but rejecting Pellegrini’s Flood theory.

Modern creation geologists have realized that Pellegrini’s model makes sense. But there are problems. Pangaea could not have been the original pre-Flood continent. The original continent – Rodinia – would have split as the tectonic plates moved rapidly under the floodwaters. However, at some point, these continental portions must have crashed together, temporarily forming a second, but submerged, supercontinent – that is Pangaea. Some of the reasoning is as follows. Fossils and minerals in the Appalachians and in the Caledonians (in the UK and Scandinavia) appear to be of common origin. This was probably one mountain range in Pangaea. But fossils would not have been formed until the start of the Flood, so this Pangaea could not have existed before the Flood. Such reasoning gives us a fascinating insight into the way that the continental pieces must have moved during the Flood. The idea of a common mountain chain linking the Appalachians with Scottish and Norwegian mountains is fully consistent with the Scriptural account.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for those scientists who give glory to You, and who, using Your word, dig deeper, thinking Your thoughts after You. Amen.